Power Engineers Federation demands discussions on new Electricty Bill

The federation warned that if the Centre tried to pass the Bill without addressing the concerns, it will launch a nationwide strike with over one lakh power employees

Hyderabad: The All India Power Engineers Federation has demanded that the Centre initiate extensive consultation with all the stakeholders before placing the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the Parliament. The federation warned that if the Centre tried to pass the Bill without addressing the concerns, it will launch a nationwide strike with over one lakh power employees.

The Federal Executive of the All India Power Engineers Federation, which met on Saturday, resolved to request the Standing Committee on Electricity Affairs of the Parliament that when the Electricity Act 2003 would be amended to form a new electricity law, then a detailed discussion with the stakeholders in the electricity sector, power engineers, employees and consumers should be done.

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The resolution pointed out that the Standing Committee on Power Affairs has so far not invited power engineers, employees and general consumers organisations for deliberations on the issue.

According to Federation chairman Shailendra Dubey, the Centre had written a letter to the United Kisan Morcha last year, promising that the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 would not be placed in the Parliament without detailed talks with the farmers and all the stakeholders, but so far it had not held any kind of discussions on the issue.

According to the Bill, subsidies and cross subsidies would be abolished so that the full cost of electricity could be recovered from all categories of consumers, he said, adding that if the pumping set of 7.5 horse power runs for 6 hours, farmers would have to pay a bill of Rs.10,000 to Rs. 12,000 per month. The same would be the case with the domestic consumers, he said. “This bill is neither in the interest of the general public nor in the interest of the employees,”he said..

Representatives from Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Puducherry and Jharkhand participated in the meeting.